Puppy Love
by Esketit
Summary: It was simply puppy love at the beginning, no worries. Right? As they grow up, the puppy love begins to fade away becoming significant in both of their lives. Lavia! Disclaimer: I own nothing but my plot!
1. Chapter 1: Four and Ten

**4**

"Juvia, baby, put your shoes on," a black-haired woman called as she kneeled down to her four-year old's height to put her favorite pair of shoes on her. The little girl nodded obeying her mother.

"Yes mommy," the small child obeyed lifting one foot up to fit in her small black boots wobbling a bit as she tried to keep her balance. Juvia was smaller than most four-year olds, her hair was like her father's blue and wavy and barely past her shoulders. She looked a lot like her mother, pale snow like skin, cat like blue eyes, cute button nose, and plump rosy lips. Her cheeks were constantly rosy, the shade became deeper when the child blushed, which was something she did quite often.

"You and Gajeel will be home tonight, mommy and daddy will be going out for dinner okay?" Juvia's mother said as she picked her up setting the little girl on her waist as she began walking into a hallway to go into her son's room. Juvia nodded, resting her head against her mother's shoulder. "Mrs. Dreyar will be babysitting the two of you, I believe her son is coming with her as well. Take care of your brother for me, yes?"

"Hai, Juvia is in charge?" The little girl looked up to her smiling mother who couldn't help but chuckle at her words.

"Make sure your brother doesn't hurt himself," Mrs. Redfox kissed her daughter's temple hoping to distract her from her question.

"Hai," the little girl nodded as she was being put down to the ground. Her mother knocked on the door of her older brother notifying him, his mother and sister were coming in.

"Oniisan!" Juvia squealed as she ran to him giving him a hug that made him make an 'oof' sound since she managed to hit his stomach, not on purpose but because of the hug.

Gajeel rolled his eyes his mother scolding him for it before she began to leave him instructions. They were the typical ones she always left when their parents had to leave to an important dinner. Take care of your sister, don't hurt yourself, keep the house clean, don't make a mess, get in bed on time. Gajeel knew the drill, so he just kept nodding his head as he looked around for some of his toys.

"Take care of your little sister Gajeel, and don't play rough with her." His mother gave him a stern look sending the message to her son.

"But Mom she's the one who plays rough with me! When I'm playing tackle football with my friends Juvia runs and jumps in!" Gajeel grumbled frowning at his sister. "When my friends and I are playing video games she attacks us!" He kept on complaining and Juvia innocently looked up at her mom. The little girl couldn't help it, she was barely going to start school and knew no other kids her own age. Of course, she would want to play with her brother and his friends! She had no one to play with!

Their mother knew about Juvia's actions and she didn't blame her son for his frustration, but her little girl just wanted someone to play with. She was shy and barely spoke to anyone other than her family. Sometimes she scolded herself and her husband for not teaching their daughter to be sociable. In fact, they thought they didn't need to since their son was a blabber mouth as a baby! Of course, now he's become quieter, but he manages to make friends.

"Gajeel, I understand Honey, but she's your little sister." Their mother began as she sighed. "If you play with her just for a little bit, she'll leave you alone." She stood in front of her son, staring down at him hoping he would do as she said.

"Fine, only for a little bit Juvia," Gajeel glared at her for a second before his facial expression softened as she smiled at him raising her arms up him, so he could carry her. Gajeel grinned picking her up and setting her against his waist.

"Oniisan!" The little girl wrapped herself around her brother snuggling against his neck. Juvia loved her brother very much and everyone knew about it. Gajeel of course, loved her equally back. They both protected each other, Juvia always tried to cheer her brother up when he was upset. Gajeel was always there to accompany Juvia whenever she was alone. They were like peanut butter and jelly. Mainly because Gajeel was Juvia's only role model, besides her parents, since he liked teaching or showing her new things.

"Well, Mrs. Dreyar will be arriving in a few minutes. She's bringing her son with her so be nice to him." Their mother gestured for her children to walk out of the room to head for the living room. "The both of you, alright?" She turned glancing at both of them knowing how her kids could sometimes be. She had a quick flashback of her daughter attacking a girl who had decided to take away one of Gajeel's toy cars. As well of her son deciding to punch a boy in the face for insulting him. Oh Mavis, if the flashbacks kept on coming, then Mrs. Redfox would most likely ditch her husband from the important dinner, but no. Her husbanded needed her and she would be there for him. So she cleared her throat in attempt of ignoring the many flashbacks.

"Mrs. Dreyar, the new neighbor?" Gajeel asked arching a thin brow as he watched his mom fix her short black hair. He lifted Juvia a little higher on his waist since she slowly began to slide down to his hip. She on the other hand clung onto him like a baby monkey would do on their mother.

"Yes, the new neighbor, Gajeel, don't be rude to him." Their father walked into the living room fixing the cuff of his jacket. He was a man of medium height, blue wavy hair like his daughter, and piercing red eyes. It was a weird genetic, but it ran through his family, including onto his son, who was almost a carbon copy of him.

"Well how old is he?" Gajeel asked as he put Juvia down onto the ground, holding her hand. Juvia wondered as well as who the new neighbors were. She had never heard of them nor wanted to, especially if they had a son. What if he was mean? What if he was crazy? Or worse, what if he tried to hurt Gajeel!? Juvia furrowed her brows at her thoughts immediately wanting to protect her brother from the new boy stranger kid thing.

"Don't know kiddo but be nice. Take care of your sister alright? Mom and dad will be home late, my boss is managing a dinner for the whole company and I need to show up to present my department." Their dad ruffled his son's messy short hair and picked up his daughter kissing her cheek. "Watch for your brother okay princess?" Ever since Juvia was born, she automatically became a daddy's girl. Her father loved her so much to even dressing up in a pink tutu with his son to celebrate her teddy bear's birthday party.

"Yes daddy," the little girl kissed her dad's nose cupping his face with her small tiny hands.

The doorbell rang indicating Mrs. Dreyar's, the new neighbor, arrival. Mr. Redfox put his daughter down who quickly walked to her brother grabbing his hand. Their parents answered the door greeting Mrs. Dreyar and her son.

They spoke for a little bit, the Redfox parents spoke to their new trusted neighbor giving her instructions for their children. By her side stood her son silently. He had blonde messy hair, about the same height as Gajeel, a bit tall by a centimeter, and a bored expression on his face. Juvia couldn't help but stare at the boy she had never met in her short-lived life. For four-year-old, she thought he was really pretty.

Juvia and Gajeel's parents left, leaving them with Mrs. Dreyar and her son. The four of them stood in the living room silently before introducing themselves. Juvia's ears tingled as she heard the boy speak, who's name was Laxus. She quietly said his name to herself, repeating it over and over again.

"Well, I'll be starting on dinner, Laxus be nice to Gajeel and Juvia," Mrs. Dreyar said as she headed towards the kitchen. The woman had brown hair, unlike her son, and green sharp eyes.

Juvia tightened her grip on her brother's hand once they were left alone with Laxus, indicating her shyness as she stepped back. Gajeel rolled his eyes at his sister wondering when she would stop being timid of others. He ignored her letting go of her hand before he began speaking to his new acquaintance.

"I'm Gajeel, and this is Juvia my little sister. She's really shy, so ignore her rudeness." Gajeel advised to the new neighbor who just chuckled at the comment. Juvia on the other hand didn't seem to like the comment very much.

"Juvia is not rude!" She stated stomping her left foot onto the ground receiving another eye roll from her brother. So, she decided to kick him on the ankle causing him to hiss in pain. Juvia pouted walking away from her brother and Laxus muttering to herself as she headed to her room.

"Ow," Gajeel rubbed his ankle earning a chuckle from Laxus. Gajeel scowled at the boy for daring to mock him.

"Maybe if you let her speak for herself she wouldn't have kicked you," Laxus grinned hoping to make a new friend since he had just moved a few weeks ago and had met no kid his age til now.

"Yeah well, I got to play with her, so she won't be bothering anyone for a bit. Want to help?" Gajeel asked nudging his head towards their hallway which lead to the bedrooms.

"We're not going to be dressed up in pink and talking to stuffed animals...are we?" Laxus nervously asked as he glanced at what could be Juvia's bedroom. He was an only child and from what he's heard, little girls could be very hard to handle.

"Nah, Juvia isn't like most girls," Gajeel smirked, he felt accomplished since his little sister was different from most little girls and he liked that. Juvia was like a mini Gajeel when she wasn't being shy or timid. Laxus did nothing but nervously chuckle not knowing what to expect.

* * *

"Juvia will now bless you to be on her pirate ship!" Juvia held a plastic sword up high as she spoke to her brother and their new friend. They were dressed in some weird fantasy pirates and now being blessed by a four-year-old.

Laxus wasn't going to admit it, but he was having quite a bit of fun playing with Juvia, since he was an only child. He didn't have anyone to play with and who knew little girls were so funny? Not he, if he didn't think right, Gajeel was also having fun. He found a liking when hearing Juvia's giggling. It was something he found adorable and he was surprised to admit it. Most little girls he met were squealing all the time and wailed like a banshee for everything. Juvia, she wasn't like that, she was funny, sweet, and wild.

"Bow down to Juvia!" The little girl exclaimed the two boys in her room obeying her wish. Gajeel sighed wanting to be done with playing with his sister, but he had twenty more minutes to go till she began to feel tired. Juvia tapped the boys, well more like swatted, backs instead of their shoulders. Both of them winced at the action and feared that she might hit their head.

"We will now defeat the evil duck and make him a slave to our ship!" Juvia exclaimed running around making Gajeel chuckle as he watched his sister stab random stuffed animals around her room. He was a great model for a little girl since she usually sat by his side when he played his video games, and they weren't just car racing or anything. It was full on shooting and stabbing people with blood spatter showing on the television screen.

"Your sister's pretty violent for a five-year-old," Laxus whispered as he looked around for the said duck they were supposed to defeat for his evil ways. He quirked a brow when he saw no view of a duck or anything like it.

"Like I said, she's not like most girls. She rarely likes playing with girl things. She likes playing football instead." Gajeel scratched his neck from the white feathery scarf he wore, he was the angel of death and apparently had to wear the scarf with an eye patch and a plastic knife. He wanted it off but knew his sister would be bothering him about it if he did.

"Is she any good?" Laxus questioned thinking of a four-year-old playing football. "By the way, where's the duck we need to make our slave?" Laxus kept on watching the little girl run around, her blue curls bouncing everywhere she went. It was pretty cute, but he continued to scan the room for the duck she seemed to want to enslave.

"She doesn't know the rules very well, so she jumps onto whoever has the ball and finds a way to take it from them. And the duck is in my dad's office, it's stuffed and on a high shelf. She'll never get it." Gajeel informed as he pretended to kill Juvia's stuffed eel by stabbing it multiple times, Juvia praised him for his way of stabbing it making Laxus worry a bit for the little girl's future for a moment.

"Oh, so is she going to fall asleep anytime soon?" Laxus punched a white heart shaped pillow throwing it back onto Juvia's twin bed. Which he was a little shocked to see that it was dark blue and had lightning bolt designs all over it. He expected some princess type of thing, but no. Juvia really wasn't like other girls.

"Give her a few more minutes of running around and she'll be snoring." Gajeel ran towards his sister lifting her up so she could fly around her room since she was also a magic pirate captain fairy. She smiled and began to stab air which apparently were her imaginary enemies.

"Laxus kill any enemy that is in Juvia's way!" Laxus did so and continued to play around speaking to Gajeel here and there. It had been a really long time since he had this much fun. Which was a bit weird since he was playing around with a four-year-old and he was ten.

There was a moment where the two boys sat down to rest from all the jumping and running they were doing for Juvia and rested against the side of her bed. The little girl's demands were beginning to get exhausting and they were ready for her to just drop.

"So, where you from?" Gajeel kept his eyes on his sister so she wouldn't hurt herself since she was now wearing Gajeel's long white feather scarf. So, he decided to get to know his neighbor.

"Tartaros, my dad transferred to here. You go to Fairy Tail Private?" Laxus began to remove his costume Juvia gave him which consisted of a blue tiara, a necktie, and a plastic hoop earring. He himself was getting curious of his new-found friend and was glad they began to get to know each other.

"Yeah, I've been there since I was little," Gajeel answered glancing at Laxus before he went back to watch his sister. She was still playing around, and he began to grow impatient.

"Juvia goes there too?" Laxus too glanced at the little girl who was currently attacking a doll.

"She's about to at the end of summer," Gajeel replied smirking as he heard his sister throw threats at random dolls and stuffed animals.

"You got a PlayStation?" Laxus wondered hoping Gajeel did have one since he also had one himself.

"Yeah, I got the full Call of Duty collection, want to play once Juvia falls asleep?" Gajeel stopped watching his sister as his conversation with Laxus grew.

"Of course, I almost got the collection completed, I'm just missing Modern Warfare and Ghost." Laxus replied as he began to get excited to play video games with Gajeel.

"I begged for Modern Warfare for years, I just got it for my birthday a few months ago." Gajeel spoke forgetting about his sister becoming more curious about Laxus.

"Dang, I'm supposed to get them soon since I didn't want to move to Magnolia, my dad promised to get them for me." Laxus shrugged, he really did hope his dad got them for him.

"Maybe we can play each other when were at our own houses." Gajeel suggested hoping the blonde would agree.

"Yeah, that'd be cool." Laxus nodded as he thought about playing against a new player.

"I'll invite my friends I'm sure they'll like you." Gajeel was sure Freed and Bickslow would like Laxus. Next time they would come over, he was sure to invite Laxus.

"Awesome." Laxus grinned.

The two boys continued their conversation becoming oblivious of Juvia's presence. They found out they were the same age and had a love for video games. They also had their differences, Gajeel loved coffee, Laxus detested it. Both had their own views on broccoli. Too distracted from their conversation they never noticed Juvia's presence. She was nowhere in her room and her pirate captain fairy costume was now on the floor.

"Hey, it's pretty quiet," Laxus arched an eyebrow looking around for Gajeel's sister. He thought if she would of fallen asleep she would of chosen her room.

"Oh, Juvia probably went to go get a cup of water, she usually does before she goes to bed." Gajeel assured standing up as he walked out his sister's room followed by Laxus. Finally, time to go play some video games, Gajeel thought as he headed towards his bedroom.

Right by it was his father's office and it was usually closed but for some reason it was open at the moment, but Gajeel was too busy thinking about his games not caring on why his dad's off-limits office was open. Laxus happened to hear a whimper coming from Mr. Redfox's office. Being curious he pushed the slight open door wider to see Juvia barely standing on a high shelf on the tips of her toes.

"Juvia!" Laxus exclaimed catching Gajeel's attention.

"Oniisan, help!" Juvia cried, tears running down her cheeks as she barely held onto the top shelf. The very tips of her toes were keeping her up, but her small fingers were slipping from the hold she had on the high shelf. She was about pretty high from the ground and she wanted nothing than to be held by her brother.

Gajeel ran towards her not stopping in time since he accidentally bumped into the shelf. He groaned as he rubbed his head in pain too distracted to react to Juvia's scream. The motion from Gajeel bumping onto the shelf, Juvia had lost her balance and began to fall.

Laxus quickly went to catch Juvia since he was right behind Gajeel when the two had walked in, her tiny body slammed onto his, almost making him fall onto the floor. Her hands were gripping onto his shirt, feeling it becoming wet from her tears. She sobbed repeating the word 'oniisan.'

"Hey shhh, it's alright Juvia. I got you, you're okay now, no need to cry." Laxus rubbed the little girl's back whispering calming words into her ear. "Calm down, you're okay." His grip on her tightened smiling as she felt her small arms wrap around his neck. She rested her head on his shoulder as her sobs began to calm down.

Mrs. Dreyar rushed in seeing the scene in front of her. Gajeel was rubbing his head hoping there wasn't a bump caused by it, and a crying Juvia being soothed by Laxus. She gulped as she worried of what their parents would say since she was supposed to keep them from being hurt.

"What happened!?" Mrs. Dreyar exclaimed as she stood in front of the two boys.

From there on, after the boy's explanation to Mrs. Dreyar, Juvia began to slowly grow an attraction towards Laxus. It wasn't an attraction like she had with Gajeel, it was a different one. One that her four-year-old self couldn't explain. She kept her grip on him as he continued to hold her slowly falling asleep. The next morning when she woke up, she was disappointed on not seeing Laxus at all.

* * *

 **So that's that, I hope you Lavia shippers liked it! I've been wanting to post a Lavia story for a while now and look, I finally did. Haha...**

 **Anyways thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review if you would like, positive or negative, I'll take it.**

 **~Esketit**


	2. Chapter 2: Five and Eleven

**5**

Juvia sat quietly in her kitchen, eating all by her lonesome as she watched other kids run around playing with each other. Her parents had a dinner at their house since her dad wanted to host a formal dinner for his department at his job. Many of his colleagues had children a few of them being around Juvia's age. Since her shyness always took over, including in school, she stood in the outskirts watching the other kids her age having fun.

It was frustrating for Juvia's parents to see her like this, her brother especially. Even at school the few moments the two siblings saw each other, Juvia would always run to Gajeel no matter who he was with, or what he was doing, she would be by his side until it was time to go. Including Laxus, she was attached to him like gum whenever she saw him at school. Gajeel wasn't going to admit it, but he sometimes became jealous when Juvia chose the blonde over him. In his opinion, from all the times Juvia had spotted Laxus, Gajeel determined that Juvia had a case of puppy love towards the blonde. It was rather weird for him to deal with, but he usually ignored it as he was happy Juvia wasn't shy of a person other than her family.

The frustration it built for her parents was immense. They had taken Juvia to a child psychologist to see if they could help in any way. They kind of did in a way. The psychologist had explained to Juvia's parents that it was natural for a young child to act that way. Within time their worries would be no more. In which the Redfox parents prayed for to come soon, since it had been a year that they had seen the child psychologist. Juvia was still Juvia, quiet, shy, and watched kids have fun while she stayed on the side lines wanting to interact but too timid to do so.

Other than five-year old's running around, there were other kids bit older than her, but younger than Gajeel. They all sat in her living room watching a movie on the television or talking to one another not wanting to hang out with kids younger than them.

What came for a surprise for the two Redfox siblings was Laxus' parents both worked in the same department as their father did, so the Dreyars were over as well. Laxus was in Gajeel's room locked in not wanting to be bothered by the other younger kids since the two were the oldest in the house.

Juvia continued eating her spaghetti oblivious of the mess she had splattered all over her face. She stood on her chair to reach for a napkin in the middle of the dining table and began to wipe her small face off from the red tomato sauce. Once she was done, she got off from the chair and walked outside to see what kids were out there playing. On her back porch were two girls, a pink haired one and a blue haired one playing with dolls on her back porch. Juvia scrunched her nose not wanting to play with such girl toys finding them icky, she turned to see where some boys were playing, and she grinned when she noticed they were playing football.

"Come on Gray, throw the ball already!" A pink haired boy shouted as they were all in positions to pass the ball. There were several boys there many of them taller than the small five-year old indicating that they were older than her by a year or two.

"Juvia wants to play football!" Juvia ran to them in her white slightly puffy dress with black dress shoes. Her cheeks becoming flushed as she stopped right in front of all of them. The boys turned to see her, and all moved their heads to a side wondering why a little girl, one in a _dress_ , wanted to play with a group of boys.

"What do you know about football?" The boy named Gray frowned, since he was the one holding the ball.

"Juvia knows that you are the quarter back, Juvia wants to be a running back." She had learned all of the sports terms since Gajeel and Laxus joined the Midget Fairy Tail Private football team to gain experience when they would enter high school. Gajeel played wide receiver and either one of the running backs. Laxus was the quarterback and no other position.

"How does a girl know football stuff?" The pink haired boy asked, he had a missing tooth, as he spoke a slight whistle escaped every word he said. He was the only one who seemed interested on playing against a girl.

"Juvia knows since Oniisan plays and taught her." She replied as she walked a bit closer. "Can Juvia play? Please?" She glanced at the football then back at Gray who just scowled at her in disgust.

"No, you're a girl, girls don't play football. Go play with dolls or something." Gray spat turning around to the boys. "Come on guys, before Juvia gives us cooties."

The others listened and Juvia pouted, she felt tears burn her eyes, but shook her head wanting to ignore the sadness that surrounded her. She began heading back into her house before getting stopped by the two girls playing with dolls.

"Are you okay?" The blue haired one asked. She slowly stood up offering a small smile to Juvia.

"Do you want to play with us?" The other girl asked smiling brightly with her two front teeth missing.

"No, Juvia doesn't play with dolls." Juvia deadpanned earning a frown from the girls, she ignored the comments they made about her being mean. She headed back inside ignoring the presence of the kids watching the television and headed towards her brother's room. Juvia twisted the knob but it was locked. So, she knocked letting herself be known. Soon enough her brother let her in wondering what she wanted.

"What is it Juvia?" Gajeel sat on his bed with his PlayStation controller in his hands and a headset resting on his head. He was currently playing against a few other players in teams, Laxus included.

"Juvia doesn't want to be with the other children," Juvia frowned quickly turning to glance at Laxus who smiled at her. She couldn't help but blush once she turned back to her brother.

"How are you going to make friends then? You're five years old, I had a lot of friends when I was five." Gajeel quickly spoke to his headset before looking back at Juvia for an answer. Sometimes he wanted to throw Juvia to the wolves, so she could finally quit being timid. But thinking about the consequences from his parents had made him not want to.

"Juvia has a friend," she began turning to look at the blonde sitting on the floor resting his back against the end of Gajeel's bed. "Laxus is her friend, no?" Laxus glanced between the two siblings shrugging as he nodded. He was going to back Juvia up since he sometimes felt bad for the little girl being scolded by her older brother.

"Yeah I'm your friend Juvia," Laxus admitted winking at the little bluenette who quickly blushed from his action. He would never get tired of seeing her blush, it was something he would always find adorable. Of course, he wasn't going to tell Gajeel that, since it would probably stir up awkward problems between the two friends.

"See Oniisan, Juvia has friends," she beamed as she went to go sit by Laxus. Who ruffled her messy blue curls before going back to the video game on the television screen.

"Well you got a loser as a friend," Gajeel snickered earning a gun shot from said loser on the game. "I'm joking don't kill me, then we'll lose for friendly fire." Gajeel moved his player to a new position in the game and turned back to his sister. "Well, were playing Black Ops Two, in zombie mode. Feel free to stay and watch." Juvia turned to the screen to see many figures running around, there was so much movement she couldn't see what was really happening.

"Juvia's only six Gajeel, we'll traumatize her." Laxus turned to look up at Gajeel who was now laying on his stomach on his bed.

"She's watched me play many of my games, she's used to the guns and blood." Gajeel answered in a monotone voice since his full concentration went to his game.

"If you say sooo," Laxus glanced at Juvia who smiled up at him, he gently pinched her cheek, before continuing the game.

To his conclusion, Laxus was right. Two minutes in, Juvia was flinching and jumping every time the face of a gory zombie popped up on the split screen, including hearing the groaning voices coming from the dead. Gajeel was ignorant of his sister's fear as he spoke to whoever was on the other side of the headset as he continued playing. Laxus frowned and placed himself in a hiding spot in the game before gesturing for Juvia to hide behind him.

Juvia smiled feeling a blush cover her face once again as Laxus patted his side for her to sit closer to him. Juvia being Juvia went ahead and sat on his lap, resting her head against the blonde's chest. Laxus was a bit surprised but shrugged it off as an arm rested against her small back and the other on her lap as he continued to play the game. It was quite…comfortable and nice to hold the little girl.

"Is Laxus really Juvia's friend?" She whispered as she glanced between the television and the controller in his hands. Her mind began to wonder questioning if Laxus was lying or not. Laxus smiled at her whispering into her ear that he was her friend and that he would always be there for her like Gajeel.

"Hai," Juvia giggled snuggling closer to Laxus enjoying the warmth radiating from his body. She continued to watch the screen, not jumping as much as she did earlier. She could hear Laxus' heartbeat, she couldn't help but place her small hand against his chest to feel the thumping the heart made. Laxus quirked a brow as he looked down at the child's action, he shrugged the action off since she was a curious little girl. Eventually Juvia slowly fell asleep tuning out the noise from the television falling asleep to Laxus' heartbeat.

The blonde hadn't noticed Juvia fall asleep on him until it was getting time to leave. His back and butt were sore for sitting on the floor for so long and he wanted to stand up to stretch his legs. But couldn't since Juvia was sitting on him, asleep. He turned to look for Gajeel who was currently putting up his game console and removing the disc from inside of it, storing it in its respective disc case.

Quietly and gently, so he wouldn't wake Juvia up, Laxus stood up balancing Juvia against him so she wouldn't fall. He kept an arm around her back, the other resting under her legs. She stirred a little but, snuggling closer to the boy's chest.

"Hey Gajeel, Juvia fell asleep," Laxus whispered walking closer to his friend.

"Oh, here let me take her," Gajeel took his little sister in his arms, her head resting against his shoulder. "How long has she been asleep?" He slowly swayed side to side as Juvia whimpered from the new position she was being held.

"Dunno, maybe during the middle of the game?" Laxus stretched his legs and arms sighing at the feeling.

"Well, I'll go put her in her bed," Gajeel started walking out hearing Laxus offering himself to help. Gajeel nodded and watched as he pulled Juvia's bed covers down for him to lay her on. Once Juvia was in her bed, snuggled against her pillow hugging a stuffed puppy consciously in her sleep, the two boys walked out in silence not wanting to wake her up.

Gajeel carefully closed her bedroom door walking out into his living room.

"You know Juvia has a crush on you." Gajeel stuffed his hands in his pockets as he stood watching kids a year or two younger than him watch the television like a moth watching a lamp. Laxus blinked at the weird information given to him, he chuckled as he shook his head.

"It's puppy love, she'll forget about it sooner or later once she befriends other boys," Laxus grinned, Juvia was someone he liked watching over. He could say he was like another brother for her.

"Yeah, you're probably right, her eyes get this shine when you come over. She also dances in a circle as well. I hope she actually doesn't do that when she gets older." Gajeel smirked, it kind of bothered him that his five year old sister liked his friend. She would blush and grin whenever she saw Laxus, he almost got onto her earlier when she sat in his lap while playing video games wanting to tell her to sit away from him. It was a strange uncomfortable feeling he got when he overthought about Juvia and Laxus.

"It's adorable, but just puppy love. Sooner or later she'll be having boys over. You'll be wishing it really is just puppy love." Laxus scratched the back of his head, as he yawned. Seeing Juvia asleep made him want to go to bed as well. He had been over at his friend's house since midday, helping prepare the food and whatnot. It was almost ten and the guests were barely leaving.

"Well, I'll just have to beat them to a pulp, wanna help?" Gajeel grinned, his red eyes flashing a bit.

"Yeah, sounds like fun," Laxus laughed.

While the two pre-teens laughed about it now, they really didn't know what they were getting themselves into in the future.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Leave a review if you would like, they're all appreciated!**

 **~ Esketit**


	3. Chapter 3: Six and Twelve

**6**

"Be careful when crossing the street honey, alright? Don't comeback until you have your brother with you." Juvia's mom said as she put a baby blue sweater on her daughter. It was already Fall, and it seemed like Winter wanted to arrive sooner than it should be. Thus, dressing Juvia in warm clothes. She currently wore a black skirt that reached above her knees, with gray thigh high socks, a cobalt long sleeve sweater, and a pair of white Converse sneakers. Juvia looked pretty adorable with her outfit, her mother was proud of the genes that were passed onto her daughter.

"Hai," Juvia nodded as she glanced behind her mom where the Dreyar's lived. Gajeel had been over at their house working on a school project with Laxus since Juvia had woken up that morning. Her whole day had been lonely since she didn't have anyone to play with. Now, it was almost seven and the sun was barely starting to set and Gajeel needed to come home since his parents were leaving to the airport in thirty minutes for a business trip. He was being left in charge for four days while they were gone. Something he was extremely excited about, since he planned on staying up late at night playing video games and ordering as much takeout as he wanted since his parents left him money to survive off for the next four days, which was a lot.

"Alright honey, if your brother doesn't want to come home yet. Tell him I'll call Auntie Karen to come and take care you two for the next few days." Juvia's mom grinned knowing how much her son wasn't very fond of their aunt. Every time her sister came, she would baby the life out of her niece and nephew. Including in public, Juvia had no problem with it, but to Gajeel, it was pretty embarrassing to have your aunt kiss your cheek and call you pumpkin pie every two minutes.

"Hai," Juvia turned around heading down the three steps from her porch. She walked up to the sidewalk, turning right and left several times making sure no vehicles were driving by. She was a bit nervous crossing the streets since she was all alone, but she had to grow up and do it.

She began to walk, turning her head ever so often hoping a car or truck wasn't coming her way. She looked ahead, wondering why it the street was so long to cross. She began speeding up, almost running to get to the other side. Juvia sighed in relief the moment she stepped foot on the Dreyar's lawn. She admired Mrs. Dreyar's flowers. She had pots and ground flowers all organized neatly on her yard. Juvia's favorite was the small white rose bush near the cement porch. It was small and only had one small white rose blooming from it. Keeping her eyes on the white rose bush, Juvia never noticed when she arrived in front of the Dreyar's front door. She knocked on it giving it three knocks patiently waiting for someone to answer. She secretly wished it was Laxus, she liked being around him a lot, except she didn't know why exactly.

"Hey Juvia," her train of thought was interrupted by Mr. Dreyar's deep booming voice. "I assume you're here to get your brother?" The tall black haired man asked.

"Hai, where is Oniisan?" Juvia asked looking up to Mr. Dreyar. Juvia always wondered why Laxus didn't have black hair like his parents. He looked a bit like his dad, but he had barely an resemblance to his mother. For now Juvia didn't understand genetics or anything about the reproductive system.

"He's in the garage with Laxus, go knock on the door, and I'll tell them to let you in." Mr. Dreyar smiled down at the little girl seeing how cute she was.

"Arigato Mr. Dreyar." Juvia turned around heading for the large white garage door. Once she got their she could here Laxus and her brother rambling about something. She pressed her ear on the door wanting to hear what they said, but jumped back when it began to slide up, revealing Gajeel with black ashes on his face and Laxus sighing in disappointment. In front of them was a table with a small fire and ash everywhere.

"We're so screwed," Laxus groaned removing a pair of clear safety glasses resting on his head. His hair stuck up from the action, bits of black ash stick to the ends as well.

"I hope there's extra credit for Chemistry throughout the semester," Gajeel started wiping the ashes from his face turning to see his little sister. "Give me a sec Juvi, I'll go home in a bit."

"Hai Oniisan," she said walking into the garage standing on her the tips of her toes to get a better view of what the two teenagers were building or making. All she saw was small flames a ashes cracking throughout the messy metal table.

"Go home Juvi, go tell mom what I told you," Gajeel looked down at his sister, turning her around by her small shoulders pushing her out the garage. Juvia pouted as she tried to pull away from her brother's grip but to no avail.

"B-But Oniison, mama said Juvia had to bring you back with her, o-o-or else Aunt Karen will be taking care of us," Juvia stated.

Gajeel tensed, his eye twitching of his aunt coming over, to care for them, for four days. Hell no. He wasn't going to be kissed every two minutes and called baby names either.

"Okay, I'll be right behind you, just start walking. I'll catch up." Gajeel assured as he turned to help Laxus clean his garage up from the mess they made from their chemistry project.

"If you say so Oniisan," Juvia huffed, pushing her blue bangs behind her ear since they kept getting in her face from the chilly wind. She went along with what her brother said, slowly making herself back to their home. When she reached the side of the rode, she whimpered. Juvia glanced behind her to see her brother who was no where to be seen in the garage, only Sting. She took in a deep breath before turning back to face the street. Turning both ways making sure there were no cars the six year old began crossing the endless street to get to her destination.

The wind blew again making her blue curly hair get in her face, some even in her mouth. Juvia stopped in her tracks to shake her head slightly trying to take her hair out of her face. She stiffened realizing she had been standing in the street for a bit not moving so she frantically turned left and right seeing no vehicles coming her way.

"Juvia is a big girl, she can cross the street on her own," she whispered to herself as she started walking once again feeling confident since this was now _twice_ she was crossing the street all by herself, or somewhat since Gajeel was going to catch up with her.

On her way a shiny object caught her attention, the bluenette looked down grinning when she realized it was a coin. She giggled as she bent down to pick it up, slowly turning it in her hand trying to figure out it's worth. Smiling when she realized it was worth a dollar, she took a step before she dropped it on the ground.

"Oops," she bent down once again retrieving her newly found money. Juvia furrowed her eyebrows as she thought someone had made a noise when she picked up her coin. Turning to the side the noise was coming, with furrowed brows her eyes widened seeing a gray car coming her way. Freezing in her steps not knowing what to do since she was equally far away from the her own yard and the Dreyar's Juvia was stiff.

Juvia opened her mouth waiting for a scream to come out of it but nothing.

"JUVIA!" Was the last thing the little girl heard before the bright lights of the car reached her. She cried out when she fell to the ground, waiting for the feeling of pain to over come her but to no avail. Juvia whimpered opening her eyes realizing she was being held. Crying she pulled away from the figure's arms turning to see who it was. A bloody scream rang out through the neighborhood, loud enough to make a flock of birds resting on a telephone line to crow and fly away. The scream echoed for seconds as Juvia realized who had pushed her out of the way.

In front of the innocent girl was Laxus. Lying unconscious under her, blood covering his face from top to bottom. Juvia cried out to the young boy wanting for him to awaken. Her small hands gripped his shoulders barely even nudging him in attempt to wake up.

"MAMA! PAPA!" Juvia screamed as loud as she could, earning the attention of her parents and the neighbors. Juvia cupped Laxus' bloody face hoping he would wake up. "Wake up, Laxus, wake up!" Crying she was pulled away by her brother as she kicked wanting to wake up the boy who she didn't even know was alive. "NO! Laxus wake up!"

"Oh my God Juvia," Gajeel held her against his chest, staring down at his best friend. Guilt and panic filling his whole body up. "Someone call an ambulance!" He yelled as he saw his parents running towards them. The Dreyars soon followed, panic and fearing in both of them.

Mrs. Dreyar was kneeling down crying as she tried to get any sign of Laxus being alive. Mr. Dreyar had pulled out the driver who hadn't even dared to step out of their car after the incident, asking them what was the reason his son was hit. Juvia cried onto Gajeel's chest, clutching to him staining his shirt with Laxus' blood.

"O-Oniisan, it-it's J-J-Juvia's fau-fault," she sobbed her brother's grip on her tightened.

"No, it's not your fault Juvi, it's not. I promise it's not yours." Gajeel comforted, rubbing small circles on her back to calm her down. Fully realizing who's fault it was Gajeel cursed himself. Regretting not walking with his sister back home, he should of listened to her in the first place and none of this would of happened. Laxus would be alive, he would be having dinner with his parents, he would be in his room doing something other than lying on the ground, but here he was. With a bloody gash on his face, glass clearly stuck onto his skin in a horrid way.

Gajeel's parents went to them asking what happened as well as trying to calm down their now traumatized daughter. Juvia muted the voices around her, her sadness taking over her as she continued to cry for her dear friend.

* * *

There was no explanation why the smell of a hospital gave Laxus a huge headache but it just did, it always did actually. It was a reason why he hated them so much. Except this headache was much more painful and a bit different. His face felt sore and a bit stiff, why? Slowly opening his eyes, squeezing them shut when a bright light hit them. He opened them again adjusting to the lighting of the room and turned to see where he was. To his shock, Laxus was currently lying on a hospital bed, an IV needle stuck in his left arm, and a pulse oximeter enveloping his right index finger connected to a heart monitor.

"What the hell?" Laxus looked around seeing no one was in the room with him. What the hell was the reason for him to be in a hospital? Why was he alone? Where was everybody. Laxus slowly sat up on the bed, groaning as he felt soreness on his ribs.

"Damn," he grunted as he held onto his stomach glancing down at his bed for a moment. He soon realized that there was a mop of blue messy hair laying on the foot of the bed. Immediately recognizing who it was, he called out to them. "Juvia?" Laxus took a strand of the messy hair gently tugging on it to get her attention. The head of blue hair apparently woke up, revealing his best friend's little sister with red swollen eyes, and a tear stained face. His eyes widened at the sight since he'd never seen Juvia's little face so red and swollen eyes.

"Laxus!" Juvia stood up quickly jumping onto the bed so she could cling onto his shoulder making him fall back onto the bed groaning in pain.

"Shit," he groaned holding his head in pain. Underneath his hands he felt some soft feeling cloth. Could it be medical gauze?

"G-Gomen'nasai Laxus," Juvia sat up her bottom lip quivering causing Laxus to stiffen. Juvia began to cry blabbering nonsense about how she was to blame for what happened to him and how sorry she was for it, too. Laxus squeezed his eyes shut trying to remember what had happened and to deal with the child's loud wailing.

For what Laxus could remember, he was heading to his mailbox to see what had arrived after he and Gajeel cleaned up his garage. As he was on his was, he remembers seeing Juvia on the street picking up a coin and then a silver car was coming from around the corner.

Ah, it made sense now, kind of. Juvia was still wailing about the passing event's covering her small face with her hands. Juvia wanted Laxus to know how sorry she felt for what she made him go through, for a little girl, she shouldn't be stating that she should be the one in the hospital.

"Shhh Juvia, please stop crying," Laxus pulled her hands away from her, frowning to see her red eyes. She was only six, six year olds aren't suppose to have red eyes. She must of been crying a lot then. Juvia nodded as she tried to control her tears scanning the stitches and bandages Laxus had on his face. From what she heard, he was given a total of eighteen stitches from the right side of his forehead halfway down his cheek. He had some gauze around his head, causing his hair to be up in a flare of spikes when he usually wore it down and cared less if it was neat or not. He looked, scary and Juvia didn't want him to look like that.

"B-B-B-But, Lax-Laxus got hurt be-because of Juvi-Juvia," she sobbed trying to steady her breathing or else she would become a stuttering mess for a while. "Gomen-nasai," Juvia whimpered throwing herself onto Laxus tightly holding onto his shoulders sobbing once again.

"No, no Juvia please stop crying," Laxus repeated gently pulling her away, wiping away the fat tears running down her face. "It's not your fault, I promise." Juvia sniffled rubbing her stinging red eyes. "Whoever was driving down the street, it's there fault. Not yours, not mine, but theirs. Understood?" Juvia nodded as she gently placed her palm on his stitched cheek, her small thumb rubbing against the black stitching.

Laxus stiffened as he himself touched his face, realizing his injuries. When Juvia had placed her hand onto his cheek, he expected to feel warmth, but he felt nothing.

"S-Stitches?" Laxus traced his injury from his forehead down to his cheek, feeling the plastic lace of the stitches and bumps of his skin. "What happened?" He knew he got hit by the car and that it must of been pretty bad for him knocking him out, but he thought it was just a head injury.

"The glass from the headlights of the car struck Laxus in the face," Juvia whispered feeling the urge to cry again as she watched the panic run through Laxus' face.

"How unfortunate," he said with no emotion, clearly in shock. From what Juvia heard and didn't entirely understand, but his injury would scar him. It's chances of this so called scar of going away were none, but he had no head or brain trauma, just a few cuts on his scalp and the slice on his right side of his face. Juvia wanted him back to normal, to how he looked like before.

"Is Laxus alright?" Juvia asked only receiving a silent nod from him.

Laxus was silent staring behind Juvia's shoulders before he slowly turned to look at her with a crooked smile. A shiver ran down the girls spine from the way Laxus was staring at her.

"L-L-Laxus?" Juvia stuttered. He continued to stare at her, it almost made the little girl want to run away from him before he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm glad your safe Juvia," Laxus ran his fingers through her curly hair, his cheek resting against her head. He felt himself blush as he held onto her, since Laxus was an only child. He assumed the feeling he felt when holding, or when being around Juvia no matter what actually, was what was known as brotherly love. It was a weird feeling, since just by seeing her cheerful self made his day better even if it wasn't going well for him.

On the other side of the room, staring through the glass of the room door. Stood a brother, one who felt extremely uncomfortable as he witnessed his little sister being held by his best friend. He had seen how Laxus stared at his sister, it was something he immediately recognized as love. Not brotherly, not friendly, not family, but love.

* * *

 **Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Leave a review if you would like! All are appreciated!**

 **Thank you for taking the time for reading!**

 **~Esketit**


	4. Chapter 4: Seven and Thirteen

**7**

"Mama, are we going to Onniisan's basketball game?" Juvia asked her mother while they waited in line to checkout at the grocery store. The two had come after Mrs. Redfox picked up her daughter from school, leaving her son to prepare for his basketball game.

"Of course, do you want to represent your brother's number?" Her mother asked with a kind smile as they moved up one in the line.

"Hai," Juvia nodded she remembers Gajeel telling her his number five, as well as saying that Laxus was thirteen. "Can...Can Juvia have Laxus' number as well mama?" A pink blush formed on the girl's cheek, causing her mother to chuckle and nod. It didn't take long to realize the attraction Mrs. Redfox's daughter had for the blonde boy across their street. Mrs. Redfox found it quite cute knowing well it was simply puppy love. Her daughter would be over him in a year or two maybe even less when she begins to befriend boys her age. For now, Mrs. Redfox giggled at her daughter's actions

Impatiently, Juvia waited to go to the Fairy Tail middle school basketball game. She wanted to watch her brother and of course Laxus play so she could cheer them on. The line at the store seemed to take hours when it had only taken ten more minutes. Causing the little girl to groan in annoyance. Once they had paid for the products they had purchased, the two headed home to prepare for the basketball game that would start in less than two hours.

While Juvia waited to leave to the game, her mother had dressed her in the school's colors, red and grey. Her outfit was made up of a gray shirt with Fairy Tail's school emblem stamped in red in the middle. For her bottoms were just a pair of short shorts and red sneakers with long white socks with two stripes on the top sleeve of the sock. Her hair was up in two pig tails and like always her bangs and baby hairs remained untamed. On Juvia's cheeks her mother had stamped the numbers five on her right cheek and thirteen on the left one. Juvia smiled revealing a missing tooth as she was ready to finally go to the game, or so she thought. Her mother still needed to get ready herself, pack some snacks and drinks for the game and for her son and his friend once they game would be over. As well as wait for her husband to come home from work and quickly get dressed so he could also attend the basketball game. The moment Juvia's father stepped foot inside the house, Juvia ran to him taking his empty coffee cup, and the files he had in hand hurrying him up to get ready.

"Go daddy! Get ready so we can go to Oniisan's game!" Juvia said as she ran to the kitchen dumping her dad's files onto the dining table and placing the coffee cup into the sink to be washed later.

Mr. Redfox looked curiously at his daughter before being yanked into his bedroom by his wife hurrying him up to get ready since they were already running late.

Once there, Juvia cheered on her brother and her next-door neighbor, receiving a wave from Laxus smiling at her. She felt her tummy tickle not knowing how to describe it and her cheeks heat up. Because of her cute cheering, the people around her also began to cheer for number five and thirteen. The two were the tallest in the team, Laxus being the tallest one and lean. Gajeel had a bit more muscle than him but was short by two inches.

"Go Laxus! Laxus! Laxus! Wooo! Laxus!" Juvia cheered lifting her hands up and jumping. "Laxus you're number one!" Juvia giggled as she received a smile back from the blonde boy.

"Are you going to cheer for your brother?" Juvia's mother arched a brow looking down at her daughter. Her father also looked down curiously wondering why her daughter was cheering excessively for their neighbor's son. Whatever the reason was he didn't like it.

"Oh," Juvia said, frowning for being interrupted on cheering for her favorite basketball player, which her brother didn't need to know that. "Go Oniisan! Go number five!" She cheered loud enough to be heard, but not as loud as she was cheering for Laxus moments ago.

On the court the teams were pulled for a quick timeout. Gajeel took a bottle of water from one of the water boys drinking most of it until there was a little bit left to pour on his head sighing as the cold liquid refreshed him. On the other side speaking to the coach, Laxus frowned as he was being scolded for fouling out multiple times. One more foul and he was out for the rest of the game. He couldn't let that happen since he would be leaving Gajeel by himself with the others who didn't know how to pass the damn ball. He and Gajeel, were like one brain, they practically knew what the other was thinking. Since they were losing at the moment, thirty-eight to fifteen, he was not risking fouling out one more time, unless the other team decided to control their damn members especially number twenty-three, who seemed to find a way to frame Laxus into fouling. The blue haired rival kept getting in his way and also fouled multiple times, but the referees seemed to only look at Laxus instead of him.

"Laxus!" A familiar voice called his name making him turn to smile at the little girl who stood above him behind a three-foot clear glass panel. The basketball court was sort of bowl shaped, there was the court and four feet above her the stands for people to come to see them.

"Hi Juvia," Laxus smiled walking a bit closer to the little girl. He couldn't help and notice the two numbers stamped on her cheeks, telling her he liked them.

"Juvia hopes Fairy Tail wins, good luck!" She grinned as she crouched down placing a small hand on the glass pane. Ever since the accident, his injury had healed and began to scar. Juvia thought it looked a little scary but cool since it took the shape of a small lightning bolt, which earning him the nickname Lightning, in Fairy Tail.

"With your cheering, we will," Laxus placed his long slender hand over Juvia's small one over the glass grinning, his scar creased a bit but still kept it's lightning shape. Her puppy love had been going on for years now, and Laxus found it cute. He gave it another year or so, before she began blushing and stammering about boys in her grade. Hell, he stammered and blushed for a girl in his grade. He was a mess whenever the platinum blonde spoke to him, and Gajeel did nothing but tease him about it.

"Don't stop cheering alright? Especially for me." He winked chuckling as Juvia blushed a dark red. Juvia began to stammer incoherent words not knowing how to reply to the blonde.

"What the hell are saying to my sister?" Gajeel asked causing the two to jump in surprise. He also didn't miss the blush that spread across his sister's cheeks.

"That she should cheer more for me than you," Laxus admitted with a smirk plastered on his face which received a scowl from his best friend.

"Juvia quit cheering for losers, I'm your brother you should be my number one fan," Gajeel turned to stare at his sister who just rolled her eyes smiling.

"Hai," she nodded stilled crouched down.

"Keep cheering for him Juvia, since you're the only girl who wants to," Laxus snickered as he received a water bottle from a water boy.

"At least I'm not a blushing daisy when it comes to talking to girls," Gajeel shot back chuckling at Laxus' now red face.

"Shhh," Laxus placed a finger against his lips making Juvia curious. Laxus didn't look like a flower when he spoke to her. Did he? They've spoken tons of times and not once did he resemble a blushing daisy.

"What she's not even at the game, or is she?" Gajeel turned to the crowd scanning for platinum hair, and grinning when he found the girl. He pointed to her for a split second, Juvia following his gaze and saw a girl their age with white hair in a high ponytail and bangs framing her face.

"HEY MIRAJ-" Laxus took hold of Gajeel covering his mouth almost bringing him to the ground.

"What is wrong with you!?" Laxus hissed letting go of Gajeel, who scowled wiping his mouth after it being covered by a sweaty wet hand.

"Man up already and go talk to her, damn," Gajeel rolled his eyes as the two walked off once the referee whistled indicating the play was about to start.

"Keep cheering Juvia!" Laxus spoke as he walked away.

"See ya Juvia," Gajeel grunted as he waved at his sister.

Juvia acknowledged their short farewells for the game. She turned back to look at the girl her brother and Laxus spoke about. She frowned as she kept looking at the girl, she seemed to be teasing someone and laughing at them. Whoever she was, she seemed like a bully to Juvia's eyes. The little bluenette felt a pain in the pit of her tummy, not knowing what it was but she didn't like it, not one bit.

* * *

 **As you can see this was a short chapter, but I hope you guys liked it! Sorry it took so long to update, I've been working on my other stories as well as college is a pain. Anyways thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you would like! They're appreciated and motivate me a lot.**

 **~ Esketit**


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